Loader bucket with ejector



1964 T. G. CAMPBELL ETAL 3,122,248

LQADER BUCKET WITH EJECTOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 10, 1961INVENTORS. TREVOR G. CAMPBELL Y RICHARD H. Hu/vqER ATTORNEYS 1964 T. e.CAMPBELL ETAL 3,122,248

LOADER BUCKET WITH EJECTOR Filed Aug. 10, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 f-INVENTOR.

E TREVOR Q. CAMPBELL BY RICHARD H. HuA/qER A TTORNE Y5 Feb. 25, 1964 T.G. CAMPBELL ETAL 3,122,248

LOADER BUCKET WITH EJECTOR Filed Aug. 10, 1961 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INV ENTORS.

TREVOR G. CAMPBELL BY RICHARD H. HUNGER ATTORNE Y5 United States Patent3,122,248 LOADER BUCKET WITH EJECTOR Trevor G. Campbell, Peoria, andRichard H. Hunger, Washington, 111., assignors to Caterpillar Tractor(10., Peoria, 111., a corporation of California Filed Aug. 10, 1961,Ser. No. 130,545 2 Claims. (Ci. 214-446) This invention relates totractor mounted loaders and particularly to improvements in loaderbuckets having means for ejecting a load without dumping or tilting thebucket for gravity ejection and to actuation of such ejecting means.

In most bucket type loader machines the bucket is tilted forwardly anddownwardly from its raised carry position to permit discharge or dumpingof its load by gravity. This reduces the vertical clearance of thebucket over a vehicle or bin in which the load is being discharged. Inmany cases, a portion of the bucket swings downwardly into the body ofthe truck or into the bin so that it must be raised upwardly to itscarry position before the loader can be driven away from the point ofdischarge. This is an undesirable time consuming operation andfurthermore often results in interference between the bucket and the binor truck body with resulting damage to both.

Ejectors for loader buckets have been devised which are power actuatedby means other than those employed for raising the bucket and tiltingthe bucket and the cost of such means, which usually includes ahydraulic jack, together with operating circuits and valves therefor, issuch that the overall cost of the loader becomes excessive andnoncompetitive.

It is the object, therefore, of the present invention to provide aloader bucket with an ejector with means for actuating the ejectorautomatically upon movement of the bucket from its carry toward its dumpposition and before the vertical clearance of the bucket is reduced.

A further object is to effect such automatic ejection without theaddition to the loader of any auxiliary power means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bucket with an ejectorof the kind described above in which resilient means are employed forreturning the ejector to its normal or loading position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such an ejectorwith actuating means including an extensible link for holding theejector in its ejecting position and in a position in which it willserve in the manner of a bulldozer mold board when it is desired toemploy the bucket for bulldozing operations.

Still further and more specific objects and advantages of the inventionand the manner in which it is carried into practice are made apparent inthe following specification wherein reference is made to theaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a tractor mounted loader embodyingthe present invention and with the bucket illustrated in its loadposition;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of the bucket only shown in FIG. 1 in itscarry position;

FIG. 3 is a view like FIG. 2 with the bucket and ejector thereof in dumpposition;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in rear elevation of one side of the bucketillustrating details of the bucket and ejector supporting means;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line VV of FIG. 6 showing amodified form of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevation of the bucket illustrating the form of theinvention shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view showing the bucket in 3,122,243 i a tntedFeb. 25, 1964 the position of FIG. 1 illustrating a further modificationof the invention.

A tractor, generally illustrated at 10 in FIG. 1, is shown as typical ofany vehicle upon which a loader bucket may be mounted and the bucket ofthe present invention, generally indicated at 11, is shown as mounted atthe forward end of a pair of lift arms, one of which is shown at 12pivotally connected to the tractor at 13 and to the bucket at 14.Hydraulic jacks 15 are employed for raising and lowering the lift arms12 and bucket 11. Tilt linkage of conventional construction is employedfor tilting the bucket between load, carry and dump positions about thepivots 14. This linkage comprises jacks 16 for imparting swingingmovement to levers 17 pivoted to the lift links which in turn impartswinging movement to levers 18 through connecting links 19. Another pairof links 20 forms a connection between the links 18 and the bucket forimparting tilting movement thereto.

The bucket 11 comprises a bottom 22 with a cutting blades 23 at itsforward edge and side walls 24 extending upwardly in parallelism fromits opposite ends. A cross beam 25 extends between the side wallsadjacent their upper edges lending rigidity to the structure. The curvedejector plate 26 provides a back wall which extends the full distancebetween the side plates 24 and is pivoted as by pins 27 for forwardswinging movement through the bucket to eject the contents thereof. Thepivotal support for the ejector as well as the pivotal connections ofthe lift arm and tilt mechanism is best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 whereinthe bucket is shown as having pairs of spaced brackets 29, one pairbeing shown in FIG. 4, which extend from the bottom of the bucket at itsrear edge to the cross beam 25 and continue upwardly and forwardly fromthe cross beam to provide supports for the ejector pivot pins 27. Thesepins support the ejector plate 26 by extending through cam plates 30welded or otherwise suitably secured to the back of the ejector plate,the further function of which will presently be described in detail. Thespaced brackets 29 also serve as a means for performing the necessarypivotal connections between the lift arms 12 and the bucket as shown at14 in FIG. 4 and the tilt links 20 and the bucket as shown at 32.

The means for automatically ejecting the contents of the bucket when itis tilted from a carry position toward a dump position is shown in FIGS.1 to 4, inclusive, as a pair of levers, one of which is shown at 34 inFIG. 1, carrying rollers 35 engageable with the straight cam edges 36 ofthe cam plates 30. These levers, as shown in FIG. 4, are preferably madeof spaced arms pivoted on coaxial pins, one shown at 37 with one of theplates 29, and the other shown at 38 with a bracket 39 secured to thecross beam 25. The opposite ends of the levers 34 are connected by alink 40 with the upper end of the lever 18 of the tilt mechanism.

The arrangement of the parts just described is such that when the bucketis raised and assumes its carry position illustrated in FIG. 2, thestraight edge of the cam plate 30 engages the roller 35 on the ejectorlinkage. In order to discharge the contents of the bucket, the tiltlinkage is actuated to move it toward the conventional dump position butonly to the position illustrated in FIG. 3 where the entire bucket ismaintained at a higher elevation than in the conventional dumpoperation. During the movement from the position shown in FIG. 2 to thatshown in FIG. 3, lever 18 moves forwardly advancing the roller againstthe straight edge 36 of the cam plate 30 pushing the ejector plate 26forwardly until it assumes the position of FIG. 3 and has ejected thecontents of the bucket. Further forward tiling of the bucket is possibleif desired because the upper edge of the cam plate 36 is formed as aconcave are per- 1 mitting the rollers 35 to move upwardly and forwardlybeyond the position illustrated in FIG. 3.

With the constructions so far described the ejector plate may remain itsforward position when the bucket is returnedto the digging positionillustrated in FIG. 1 and as the bucket is advanced into material to beloaded the entering material engages the lower portion of the ejectorplate and forces it rearwardly to the position of FIG. 1.

A modified form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 providesmeans for automatically returning the ejector plate to its loadposition. This means comprises a spring 42 of the torsion type carriedon a cylinder 43 and supported between a pair of trunnions 44 which areformed as extensions of the pivot assemblies 32 previously described.One end of the spring is anchored to the cross beam 25 by a link 46 andthe other end is anchored to one of a pair of levers 47 which are fusedto the opposite ends of the cylinder 43, the anchorage of this end ofthe spring being shown at 43. The levers 47 are connected by rods 59 topivot brackets 51 on the back of the ejector plate so that forwardmovement of the ejector plate by the means above described imposes atension on the spring 42 creating a force which returns the ejectorplate to its normal or loading position when the roller 35 is moved awayfrom the cam 36 to assume the position shown in FIG. 1.

It is sometimes desirable to use a loader bucket in the manner of abulldozer for cleanup purposes or to level the ground at the site whereit is working. The loader and ejector of the present invention arereadily converted to provide an eificient bulldozer by means shown inFIG. 7 of the drawings wherein the link 4%) which connects the ejectorlinkage with the tilt linkage is replaced by an extensible link 54. Inthe present instance, the extensible link is shown as a small hydraulicjack but it may be in the form of a hand actuated jack screw or anymechanism capable of swinging the rollers 35 and their supportingbrackets 34 to the dotted line position shown in FIG. 7 where they haveacted upon the cam edge 36 to swing the ejector plate 26 to the forwardor ejecting position where it assumes the function of a bulldozer moldboard acting in cooperation with the cutting blade 23 of the bucket.Stops 56 are desirable in the form of small lugs projecting inwardlyfrom the side walls of the bucket to limit the forward movement of theejector blade and it is also desirable where the bucket presentinvention is that the ejector plate forms the back of the bucket whichis otherwise open and any earth or other material lodging behind theejector plate does not interfere with its free retraction.

We claim:

1. In combination with a tractor mounted loader bucket having lift meansfor raising the bucket from the ground and tilt means for tilting thebucket relative to the lift means, an ejector plate pivoted adjacent theupper portion of the bucket for forward swinging movement therein toeject the contents of the bucket, cam means projecting from the rearportion of the bucket, and means actuated upon operation of the tiltmeans to move the bucket through a predetermined range of its forwardtilting movement to engage said cam means and actuate the ejector plate.

2. In combination with a tractor mounted loader bucket having lift meansfor raising the bucket from the ground and tilt means for tilting thebucket relative to the lift means, an ejector plate pivoted adjacent theupper portion of the bucket for forward swinging movement therein toeject the contents of the bucket, cam means projecting from the rearportion of the bucket, means actuated upon operation of the tilt meansto move the bucket through a predetermined range of its forward tiltingmovement to engage said cam means and actuate the ejector plate, andresilient means for returning the ejector plate to a position rearwardlyof the bucket.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,720,990 Beyerstedt Oct. 18, 1955 2,852,869 Beyerstedt Sept. 23, 19582,858,035 Mettetal Oct. 28, 1958 2,832,621 Richardson Apr. 21, 19593,035,724 Clark et a1 May 22, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,121,159 France July24, 1956

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A TRACTOR MOUNTED LOADER BUCKET HAVING LIFT MEANSFOR RAISING THE BUCKET FROM THE GROUND AND TILT MEANS FOR TILTING THEBUCKET RELATIVE TO THE LIFT MEANS, AN EJECTOR PLATE PIVOTED ADJACENT THEUPPER PORTION OF THE BUCKET FOR FORWARD SWINGING MOVEMENT THEREIN TOEJECT THE CONTENTS OF THE BUCKET, CAM MEANS PROJECTING FROM THE REARPORTION OF THE BUCKET, AND MEANS ACTUATED UPON OPERATION OF THE TILTMEANS TO MOVE THE BUCKET THROUGH A PREDETERMINED RANGE OF ITS FORWARDTILTING MOVEMENT TO ENGAGE SAID CAM MEANS AND ACTUATE THE EJECTOR PLATE.